Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

✩✩✩✩ - Chan - ✩✩✩✩

Chan sat in the studio, glaring at the time on his phone. 4:44 a.m.

"Great…" He muttered to himself and let out a yawn. "So much for wrapping it up quickly." He saved everything on his laptop and then closed the software, before he shut down the computer and then… then Chan leaned back into his chair, staring up at the ceiling in his small studio.

Everything was good these days. Stray Kids had a comback recently and the next one was already in the making. They had filmed several shows and interviews, while some members had a few solo schedules and they practiced together every free minute they had. And so Chan used the late night hours to work on songs.

Normally Changbin and Han would be with him, but they were both falling asleep four hours ago and so Chan decided to send them home and stay in the studio for a bit longer to finish, though now... now the sun was close to rising again.


"Ah right... I have a meeting in the morning." Chan groaned to himself and ran a hand through his ling blond hair. "I better get some sleep." And so Chan got up, took his jacket and he headed out. The cool late-autumn air hit his bare face as Chan started to walk through the night, down the street to head towards their shared dorm, where all eight of the boys lived.

It was a quiet night as silence had taken over a while ago. There were no other people around and only a few cars passed by once in a while, but overall it was peaceful and quiet.

But then suddenly Chan felt something… odd. It was like a breeze that went right through his body and Chan whipped around in panic only to see a figure walking behind him, stopping and turning to look at Chan with the same shock filled expression on his face. 
Chan frowned in confusion as the figure that stood in front of him looked a lot like... like him.

Chan blinked several times and they simply stared at each other. It was as if he was looking at his reflection in a mirror. The same eyes, the same nose, the same lips. Even the hair was roughly the same, though Chan's hair was a bit longer than the blond hair of the other. But before any of the two could react, the other figure was suddenly gone.

Chan took a step back in shock and he shook his head, letting out a shaky breath as he now looked at the empty street ahead.

"Oh man.... I really need some sleep..." He mumbled to himself, still glaring at the space where he thought he saw another version of himself but then he turned around and continued to head home. Home to Stray Kids.

He walked into their shared dorm as quietly as he could. He took off his shoes and jacket and then Chan headed to the restroom, before he went into his and Jeongin’s shared bedroom and he simply took off his pants, and sweatshirt and he sat down on his bed.

Chan looked at his phone once more, frowning in confusion as he read the time again 4:44 a.m. "What the..." Chan shook his head. He could worry about that in the morning. And so Chan laid down and closed his eyes and he immediately drifted off to sleep.

✩✩✩✩ - Chan - ✩✩✩✩

"Ah finally! The maknae is awake." 
Grinned Changbin as Chan shuffled over into the kitchen. There was a sweet scent of fresh pancakes in the air while some of the boys were eating breakfast at the big dining table.

"Mornin…" Chan mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.


"Did you slee well, Channie?" 
Asked Felix with a wide grin.

"Hm? Yeah I guess…" Chan yawned and sat down between Changbin and Hyunjin who both made some space between them.
 "Where are the others?" Chan asked confused, counting only five heads.

"Jeonginnie hyung and Seungminnie hyung are at the meeting and-"


"THE MEETING! Oh gosh I forgot!" Chan jumped to his feet with wide eyes, while the other five all looked at him confused.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" 
Asked Hyunjin confused though Chan was ready to leave.

"I have the meeting with the directors! I forgot to set the alarm-" He was almost out the door, but Minho held him back.

"Eh no you don’t have a meeting."


"Yes, I do-"


"No, Channie." Said Han and walked up to Minho and Chan with a frown. "There is no meeting for you today." 
And he said it so convincing that Chan started to frown.

"Re- really?"


"Yes." Added Minho and guided Chan back to the table where the pancakes were waiting for him. "Now sit back down and eat."

"Oh…" Chan mumbled, furrowing his brows in confusion. "Guess I must have mixed the days... I'm still a bit out of it."

"Yup." Grinned Changbin and put some food onto a plate that he then placed in front of Chan.

"You worked long again yesterday, didn't you, Channie? Take it easy today." Hyunjin told him, though Chan still wasn't fully convinced.

"But don’t we have a schedule today?" He asked, but the others shook their heads.

"No. We have off, for three days." Han told him. "We can just chill a bit and brainstorm for our next comeback."

"Our comeback? You mean Do It?" Chan asked and now all five of the boys looked at him confused.

"Do It?" Asked Felix.

"What you already have a concept?" Asked Changbin impressed and now Chan was confused again.

"Uhm… yeeees? You know, our-" And then Chan realized that they must be making fun of him. His kids loved to tease him after all. "Yah! You guys! Stop messing with me!" He let out a laugh.

"We are not messing with you, Channieeeee!" Changbin shot back and Chan let out a tired sigh, trying to make sense of everything. The others looked too serious for this to be a joke and in general they all looked... a bit different. They were still the same though, so Chan couldn't quite place his thoughts.

"Ugh… you guys. Be for real, what do we have going on today? Because I’m clearly having the wrong day in my head."

"We have off. For real." Felix told him again.

"And that includes you, Chan-ah." Smiled Minho. "No work for three days."

"Huh?!"

"You are working too much, Channie. You need a break." Hyunjin added from Chan's left side.

"Yah, I don’t-"

"You clearly do, because you didn't use 'hyung'." Grinned Han and Chan blinked at him.

"Hyung? What?"


"Yeah, that’s right. Since when aren't you addressing us as 'hyung'?" 
Asked Minho with a grin, though Chan only looked at them in shock. "The youth these today… so disrespectful."
 The others all chuckled and then Chan too let out a loud laugh, not able to take any of this serious any longer.

"Hahahaha you guys are crazy!" He grinned. "Alright, no working. Let's see for how long that works." He laughed and then finally started to eat. The others shared some concerned glanced but in the end they kept quiet and enjoyed the morning.

✩✩✩✩ - Channie - ✩✩✩✩

"Chan!"

"Huh?" Chan blinked awake as Minho and Changbin had barged into his room.

"All good with you?" Asked Changbin and Chan nodded, blinking up at the two in confusion. 

"Huh... what?"

"You forgot your meeting." Minho told him and Chan was quiet for a moment.

"What meeting?" He asked finally with a groan. 

"You had a meeting with the directors for our upcoming album." Minho clarified, but it still didn't ring a bell to Chan.

"What album? We just had one." 

"Karma, yes. But it's already October and Do It is coming out soon, remember?" Asked Changbin and then Chan's eyes widened in shock.

"Do- Do It? How... it's already planned?"

"Huh?" Asked Minho with a frown. "Yes! Of course!"

"What-"

"Look, hyung," started Changbin and Chan looked at him even more confused now, "it’s okay if you want to chill more and work less. We all wanted you to do that for years. But we all agreed to work hard until the end of the year and bring one more album out. If you decide to take it more chill then that's fine, but we need to know when you are skipping meetings." He scolded Chan and Minho nodded along.

"Yeah, we can go to these meetings for you, but to just drop them is not like you. So again, are you okay? Did you just oversleep?"
Minho asked and there was real concern in his voice, but Chan was simply confused.

"What... again, what meeting?"
Chan asked with frustration. He rarely had to go to meetings, only when they talked about some songs or solo schedules. Jeongin hyung and Seungmin hyung always went to those meetings with their managers and the directors. Jeongin was the leader after all. Chan looked up at Minho again, frowning slightly when the other rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"It’s not funny anymore, hyung-"
 He muttered and Chan became a bit angry now.

"Not funny?! You are the one messing with me!" He snapped, clearly annoyed now.

"We are not messing with you." Said Changbin, a bit softer now. "Just... talking to us is important hyung. Our manager is pissed and we understand that you must have been tired. But normally you know when you actually have to rest. You being at the studio for too long doesn't normally affect you. Don't overwork yourself." He said and with that the two left the room, leaving Chan alone in the bedroom.

"Hyung?" He asked quietly, sitting in silence and wondering what was going on.

✩✩✩✩ - ✩ - ✩✩✩✩

And so both versions of Bang Chan started their morning in a very unusual and confusing way, hoping that with time everything would make sense again. But of course the universe was never that simple...

Chapter Text

✩✩✩✩ - Channie - ✩✩✩✩

Channie was confused.

After he learned that apparently he had missed a meeting, even though he didn’t even know about it in the first place, he freshened up, put on some comfortable clothes and then he headed to the main area of the dorm, where he was immediately met with chaos.

Seungmin was drinking coffe, with Changbin snuggling up to him, shaking him wildly around while Seungmin tried not to spill anything. Han and Felix were loudly laughing and joking around, while Jeongin, Minho and Hyunjin put on their shoes, looking for jackets while Hyunjin was also drinking coffee, holding onto Minho in order to not fall over. They were all loudly screaming, yelling and laughing and simply put... chaotic.

Chan stood there confused as to why they seemed to be in a hurry and screaming so loudly, but what surprised Chan the most, was that they called him:

"Hyung! You are finally  here!" Grinned Han and Hyunjin ran up to him, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the door, where most of the others were now getting ready, grabbing their bags.

"Come on, hyung! We have dance practice!"

"First we have to do the last changes for the track!" Yelled Changbin, letting go of Seungmin who was finally able to finish his coffee. Chan was now even more confused though, while the boys kept on bickering and talking over each other.

"Uhm… what track? What dance practice?" He asked confused.

"Stop messing around, hyung." Felix laughed at him and Minho nodded, slightly more annoyed at Chan.

"Yeah, first the meeting and now this? Are you filming us with hidden cameras?"

"Yeah, this must be a joke…" Seungmin commented under his breath while Chan simply stared at them.

"I-"

"Come on! We have the practice room only booked for three hours." Jeongin reminded them and so half an hour later, Chan found himself in the practice room at JYPE with the other seven members of Stray Kids.

"We should have first finished the track." Mumbled Changbin as the music played and there was an abrupt end before the last section of the song. But Minho shook his head as he turend to Changbin.

"No, we have to go over the dance with the other dancers for the live show, so we do what we have now and then add the rest at the end, right Chan?"

"Uhm... yeah..." Chan said as he awkwardly stood in the back, still not sure what was going on.

"Fine…" Changbin said and turned to Chan as well. "But we have to finish the track tonight, or else the managers won't be happy." And so Minho gave the signal and they made a formation in front of the mirror and started to dance, though Chan... he stood in the back, watching their moves confused as they were unknown to him.

"Chan hyung, what’s wrong?" Asked Hyunji confused, looking at the blond who stood there with wide round eyes.

"Huh?"

"Why don't you dance?" Added Felix.

"Why would I?" Chan contered, tilting his head slightly to the side. "You guys clearly did this without me."

"Huh? What are you talking about hyung?"
Jeongin asked and then Chan let out a groan and snapped at Jeongin.

"Ugh, can you guys stop it?!"

"Huh?" Now the other seven looked confused at him. Chan would never snap at Jeongin like that.

"Stop calling me hyung!" Chan said loudly. It wasn't a yell, but the frustration was clearly there and the room became quiet. Chan saw them all looking at him with wide eyes and slightly shocked and confused eyes and so Chan realized that he must have understood something wrong.
"Sorry…" He mumbled, not looking at any of them, as he ran a hand through his blond, messy hair.

"Are you not feeling well?" Asked Minho with concern now in his voice and Chan shrugged his shoulders and he let out a heavy sigh.

"N- no... whatever this is, it’s- stressing me out... sorry..."

"Maybe you need a break?" Offered Seungmin. "You’ve worked the hardest on this album."

"But we already announced the comback." Reminded Han him.

"I don't mean a full break, just for today." He said and Chan looked up again, his eyes wide and round.

"We already announced the album?" He asked quietly and Minho let out a sigh.

"Okay, Innie, take him home." He said and Jeongin immediately nodded, walking over to Chan.

"Come on hyung."
Jeongin grabbed his jacket and bag and then he guided Chan out of there.

It was a quiet ride home with the taxi and it felt like forever to Chan, but in the end they finally reached their dorm.

"Thanks for taking care of me, hyung..." Chan mumbled, still not looking up at Jeongin, though the other frowned down at Chan as he led him to their shared bedroom.

"Do you… Chan, do you want to feel younger?" Jeongin asked slowly and careful and Chan blinked up at him.

"Huh?"

"I know we sometimes make fun of this, but if you are actually stressed and want to have less burdens, you can lean on us. You know that, right?" He asked him softly and Chan let out a shaky breath as he shook his head in frustration.

"Nothing makes sense..." He mumbled and Jeongin offered him a soft smile.

"Get some sleep, Chan. I'm sure tomorrow it will be better again." He said and got up, leaving the room to give Chan the chance to rest properly.

"I hope so." Chan whispered to himself as he let a tear fall, curling in on himself as his head was a mess of wild thoughts that made no sense at all...

✩✩✩✩ - Chan - ✩✩✩✩

Chan kept asking about any schedules, but the others kept on telling him that there was nothing happening these days. They had off and a chill life at the moment.

"But what about our comeback?" He asked as the kids were all chilling in the dorm. Some were in the kitchen, trying to make some food, while the others watched TV or played games on their phones.

"What comeback?" Asked Changbin with a frown from his place on the couch and Chan looked at him as if the other grew a second head.

"Do It?" Chan reminded him, but Changbin only waved him off.

"We can do that later."

"But-…" Chan was interrupted by Felix grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the couch.

"Come on, Channie! Let’s play some games!" He grinned and Chan couldn't help but frown at Felix's face. It wasn't that they all looked different. But still something felt... off. Especially Jeongin and Seungmin looked and behaved different, but Chan couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

"You… you sure?" He asked with uncertainty as the others made him sit on the couch and Minho, Han and Felix all surrounded him immediately, shoving a phone into his hands to play some mobile game with them.

"Yes! This is fun!" Minho giggled and Chan raised an eyebrow. They were all fooling around, chatting with each other and later Seungmin and Jeongin brought them some self made waffles over.

"Thank you, hyungs!" Changbin grinned.

"Yah, you guys are the best!" Han added.

"Here Chan-ah! You have to eat!" Minho laughed and fed some of the waffles to Chan, who munched on them, surprised by how good they were tasting.

"Woah... this is so good!"

"Thank you Channie." Jeongin smiled at him softly.

"Ah if our maknae likes it, then it was all worth it." Seungmin commented and also smiled a bit and Chan blushed slightly, as he got fed more food from Minho, while they still played some games.

"Channie, do you still want to go to the art museum with me next week?" Asked Huynjin from the side and Chan raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? Art museum?"

"Yah! Channie!" Hyunjin laughed. "You were so excited to come with me!"

"He wants to go to the movie theater with me, right, Channie?" Changbin asked with a grin and Felix started to pout.

"I had hoped to play some more games with Channie..."

"We can all do that later together."

"I- I'm confused..." Chan muttered and now they all turned to look at him.

"Huh? Why?“ Asked Jeongin softly.

"We have a comeback soon. We have-"

"No, we don't." Seungmin simply said and Chan glared up at him.

"Yes, we do."

"Chan, we told you to take it easy. No work for you." Hyunjin reminded him.

"But I have to work! I have to finish our track! The last part is still missing and I have to-"

"Channie, enough." Said Jeongin suddenly in a stern and authoritarian voice and the others all stiffened slightly and even Chan was completely shocked by Jeongin's tone of voice.

"Innie?"

"I’m the leader and I’m telling you to take a break." Jeongin told him.

"Le- leader…?" Chan stammered in confusion.

"Come on, let’s get you to bed. You clearly didn't sleep enough last night." Jeongin sighed and motioned for the others to let Chan off the couch.

"But-"

"Now, Chan." Jeongin said with a frown and Chan got up, still confused. It was barely mid-day, still relatively early for their usual schedules. They couldn't afford to just rest and chill for a whole day. But still Chan followed Jeongin through the hallway to their shared bedroom and Chan plopped down onto the bed with a heavy sigh.

"Since when are you so-… so mature?" Chan muttered confused and Jeongin raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I always have been. It's my responsibility as the leader of this group."

"No, but this-... argh..." Chan let out a loud groan and he laid down his upper body, staring up at the ceiling. "It’s like I don’t know you at all. Any of you." It was quiet for a moment, before Jeongin sat down next to Chan.

"Not gonna lie, you also seem... different. More... dedicated. More mature. Not like how our maknae normally is." Jeongin said and petted Chan's leg. "Just get some rest, Channie. You are probably just stressed." He then got up to leave, but Chan held him back by the arm.

"I’m not the maknae though." He said with a frown and Jeongin let out a sigh.

"Channie-"

"No, fuck this. Meeting! Now!" Chan growled and got up and he dragged Jeongin after him.

"Channie?"

"Hoping things will go back to normal won't fix anything." Chan said with determination and so he dragged Jeongin over to the living room and made him and the others sit down, while he himsefl stood in front of them, pacing back and forth.

"How old are you?" He asked and the others looked up at him confused.

"Huh?"

"I want your birth dates. Now." Chan snapped and then they all said it.

Jeongin: February 8, 1993
Seungmin: September 22, 1994
Felix: September 15, 1994
Han: September 14, 1994
Hyunjin: March 20, 1994
Changbin: August 11, 1995
Minho: October 25, 1996

The days sounded right, but Chan's eyes widened as he heard the year they were supposedly born in. "This makes no sense..." He mumbled and Changbin rolled his eyes.

"Yah, Channie. Stop pretending to be stupid. Is this a joke?"

"No..."

"Chan, you-" Seungmin started, but chan interrupted him.

"You're messing with me, right?" He asked, but they all looked at him with innocent eyes.

"No Chan. We are not." Jeongin told him and Minho nodded.

"Yeah, what's wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me?!" Chan snapped and without realizing a tear started to fall from his eye. "You guys are messing with me!" 

"Okay... what about your age then?" Asked Hyunjin with a frown. They all had no idea how to help their maknae. It was simply unusual to see Chan like this.

"October 3, 1997." He said and the others all shared some looks as nothing seemed to be wrong with that.

"Okay? And?" Changbin asked.

"Wait, it's not weird to you?" Chan asked confused.

"No…? Should it be?" Asked Felix. "That's your birthday."

Chan ran a hand thorugh his blond hair, before he got another idea. "Show me your IDs."

"Ha-?"

"Now!" Chan became more and more impatient and soon he had a look at all seven ID cards on the coffee table. "Damn it..." He mumbled and ran a hand over his face, while the others watched him with concern.

"Channie, whats wrong?" Jeongin asked with worry as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, talk to us. Please." Hyunjin added quietly.

"Un- until yesterday I was the oldest." Chan told them and the others started to let out some laughs.

"Hahahah good joke-" Han grinned, but Chan wasn't having it.

"It’s not a joke, Han!" Chan yelled and the others became quiet again as they blinked at him in shock. "I’m the oldest! I created Stray Kids, I’m your hyung! Innie is the maknae!"

"Innie...?" The others all asked and turned to Jeongin who looked at Chan with wide eyes.

"Yes! I don’t know what's wrong with me, but this..." and Chan gestured at them all, "...this is all wrong." Chan said in frustration as he let the tears fall and he quietly started to sob.

"Channie…" They all looked at him, not sure what to do.

"What happened yesterday?" Asked Jeongin finally.

"Huh?" 

"If you say something is wrong then we want to help you." He added.

"Yeah, obviously." Seungmin agreed and Chan's eyes widened.

"You... you believe me?" He asked and Han nodded.

"At first we thought you are messing with us, but now..."

"It’s clear that you are upset." Added Felix.

"I thought you were messing with me." Chan muttered under his breath.

"We wouldn’t mess with you- well maybe a little we would have but no." Minho told him softly. "We wouldn't go this far and make you cry, Chan-ah." He said and Chan smiled softly while nodding.

"I know..."

"So, what happened?"
Jeongin asked. "Tell us everything."

And so Chan started to explain how it was in his world. That he was the oldest and others were all born on the same date, but in different years. That he was the oldest and leader of Stray Kids and that until last night everything was normal, until he headed home.

"Something felt off..." Chan explained with a frown. "I thought I-... ugh this is so stupid." He mumbled to himself. "It felt like something... or someone went through me. I turned around and I- I thought I saw myself. A guy who looked exactly like me. He looked at me confused and then he was gone. I headed home and then this morning everything was... different. You guys are different." He finished quietly and the others shared some concerned glances.

"So... could it be that you are... from another universe?" Asked Han and Changbin frowned slightly.

"Like parallel worlds?!"

"That's... crazy." Said Hyunjin.

"How else could we explain this?" Seungmin mumbled.

"Wait!" Yelled Minho suddenly. "If you are not our Chan, then is our Channie…? Is our maknae in your world?"

"Uhm... possible." Chan nodded and the others looked even more worried now.

"Oh no! Poor Channie!" Felix cried.

"You said you’re the leader." Jeongin repeated and Chan nodded again.

"Yes."

"Oh Channie..." Jeongin sighed dramatically. "I hope he is alright."

"Noooo poor Channie...." Changbin cried. "Our maknae couldn't handle the responsibilites!" They all cried and got worried for their Chan, but this Chan couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Hehehe, it’s nice." He grinned and Seungmin turned to him confused.

"Huh? What is?"

"To see you all so worried about him."

"Yah! Of course!" Han yelled.

"He's our baby!" Hyunjin added and Jeongin took a deep breath.

"I hope he is okay…"

✩✩✩✩ - Channie - ✩✩✩✩

It was later that day when Chan woke up again. He slept through most of the day and when he came out of his and Jeongin's shared bedroom, he saw the others all sitting in the kitchen, eating some take-out.

"Ah hyung! How are you feeling now?" Han asked with a grin and they all smiled at him as they spotted him, though Chan frowned as he heard 'hyung' again. he really had hoped it had been just a dream.

"I-... I'm good." He mumbled and headed over to them as Seungmin gave him some food. "Thanks."

"You think you can work with Hannie and me on the song now?" Changbin asked.

"The song... right..." Chan muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, it has to be finished by tomorrow morning, or the managers will be mad." Minho said. "I already got a call. They are not happy with us slacking off." 

"We told them you're sick, but you know how they can be." Hyunjin added as he looked at Chan who simply nodded.

"We'll finish it tonight and then tomorrow we'll go to the meeting." Changbin said and also looked at Chan. "Don't oversleep again."

"I-" Chan started and then he looked at them confused. "Since when are meetings my responsibilities?" He asked and the others gave him some looks of confusion.

"Uhm... since ever?" Asked Jeongin instead with a grin.

"Tsk, yeah right." Chan muttered, getting more and more frustrated at them.

"Oh come on, Chan. This is serious-" Minho started but Chan crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh sorry, hyung." He grumbled and Changbin rolled his eyes.

"Very mature, Chan."

"Yeah, stop being a baby." Seungmin commented. 

"Really, what is wrong with you today?" Asked Han confused and they all kept on hacking down on him, until it was enough and Chan got up with a yell.

"Fuck you all!" He growled out and now the others were quiet as Chan left them.

"Chan hyung?" Asked Felix quietly.

"Chan!" Minho yelled after him, but Chan already stormed out of the front door.

"Let him cool down." Said Changbin. "You know he can be stressed before a comeback."

"Not like this though..." Muttered Hyunjin with worry. "He rarely let's his anger out on us."

"He is probably heading to the studio, to work on the song." Han added. "It helps him to calm down after all....

"True..." Minho sighed. "We can always help him but he has to trust us to help him as well." And so they all sat there in silence.

Meanwhile Chan was walking down the street. It was already dark outside and the chill air made Chan shiver as he had forgotten to grab a jacket. He walked and walked for miles, until he reached the han river and he leaned over the railing, staring down at the water, looking at his own reflection.

"What is wrong with me?" He whispered to himself, scared he was losing his mind...

Chapter Text

✩✩✩✩ - Chan - ✩✩✩✩

"So... let me sum it up: You and our Channie most likely switched places in our two universes. In your world, you are the oldest, while in our world, we are all older than Channie."

"Yes." Nodded Chan and Jeongin continued.

"And before you switched, all you did was work until late and then you headed home, probably crossing paths with our Channie."

"Yes." Chan agreed again.

"So... how do we get you back to your universe and our Channie back to ours?" 

"That's the big quesiton." Chan sighed, running a hand through his blond hair.


"Maybe you just have to go to the same place again where you think it happened?" Offered Seungmin and Chan thought for a moment.

"That could work, I guess..."

"But only if our Channie also goes to the same place, right?" Asked Hyunjin. "So you two can switch back."

"You think our other versions have noticed by now?" Wondered Felix with worry.

"Uhm... hard to tell." Blushed Chan slightly, letting out a chuckle. "We uh- we sometimes make jokes about me being the youngest and the others being my hyungs, so your Channie calling them 'hyung' wouldn't be too out of the ordinary."

"Huh? Why?" Asked Minho surprised and they all looked at Chan now with curiosity. 


"I uh... always wanted to be the maknae." He admitted and his ears turned even more red now.

"Oh... really?" Asked Changbin and Chan nodded.

"I trained at JYP for many years. I joined the company when I was really young, so I always thought I would become the maknae of a group. But it took me years to debut and when I did, I became the oldest and leader of Stray Kids. I was stressed out a lot and-..." Chan frowned and glanced over to Jeongin. "Maybe you know what I mean..."

"Uhm... no, not really." Muttered Jeongin with a frown of his own. "We have a simple and chill life as idols actually."

"Really?" Chan asked both amazed and embarrassed. "Guess I’m just a bad leader then..." Chan let out a dry laugh, but Jeongin placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No, Chan. I doubt that. You seem like a caring and hard working man who loves his members dearly." He told him, but Chan shook his head.

"Anyways, now the others are all grown up. They don't need my help anymore, so I can-... I can chill more. Act goofy and the boys- your other selves, take responsibility for certain things." Chan smiled slightly and the other offered him grins and smiles as well.

"That's nice." Felix commented and Chan nodded once more.

"I’m glad another version of me is the maknae though and has such great hyungs."

"I’m sure our other versions are also happy to have you as their leader and hyung." Jeongin smiled back at Chan.

"Sooo, do we just hope that the kids will figure it out and head over to the place?" Asked Han unsure.

"OH!" Chan's eyes suddenly widened.

"What is it?" Asked Hyunjin. 

"I just remembered, I had headed home last night at 4:44 a.m."

"4:44?! So late?!" Scolded Jeongin and Chan scratched the back of his neck.

"Ah... I had planned to leave earlier..." He mumbled and the others chuckled.

"You're just like our Channie." Grinned Felix and Changbin nodded.

"Yeah, for real! Always hard working until we have to scold him." 

"Heheheh, I guess we're all not too different from each other, but, back to topic, that's not all." Chan added and Seungmin tilted his head to the side with curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"I left the studio at 4:44 and headed home, walked through the street where I saw your version of me, but when I reached home and checked my phone, it was still 4:44."

"What?!" The others asked in shock.

"That's creepy...." Han whispered and trembled slightly and Felix nodded in agreement.

"So... should we go to the same location at 4:44 a.m?" Asked Huynjin and Jeongin nodded.

"Sure. It's the only lead we have right now."

"And until then?" Asked Felix, looking at his phone. "It's only... 6:30 p.m."

"We’ll let Chan be the maknae!" Yelled Minho with a grin.

"Huh?" Chan blinked at them confused and then suddenly the others all grabbed him and pushed him onto the couch, where Minho and Changbin started to tickle him "Ah! Stop! Hahahahhaha!" Chan started to laugh and cry tears as they kept on tickling him, laughing and grinning.

"You guys..." Seungmin sighed as he and Jeongin watched them with fond smiles.
 

"He needs to relax!" Hyunjin laughed. "He is too tense!"

"Let's cuddle while we play some mario cart!" Yelled Felix with excitement.

"Oh yes! Good idea!" Grinned Han and soon the couch was filled with blankets and pillows and Chan was trapped between the other boys, as they offered him food, let him win the video game on purpose and overall babied him as much as they could as they waited for the time to pass.

"Thank you guys..." Chan giggled and Jeongin ran a soothing hand through Chan's bright hair. 

"I can tell you burden yourself too much." He mumbled and Chan nodded, watching while Minho, Han and Felix were racing against each other in the game.

"How do you do it?" Chan asked quietly with a frown and turned to Jeongin, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Just... take a break. Take time for yourself."

"But we want to achieve as much as possible and for as long as we can while we are together." Chan frowned, looking at Minho's back. In his universe, Minho would be the first to leave for the military. Something Chan really didn't want to think about yet.

"You will all have a burnout by 30 if you keep pushing too hard." Jeongin reminded him and Chan pouted slightly.

"I can take it..."

"It doesn't have to be a long break." Jeongin clarified with a chuckle. "Just... a weekend off. A few moments to take care of yourself. No cameras. No STAY, no bubble messages, no... no duty."

"I will try." Chan mumbled and Jeongin pulled him in tight making Chan cuddle against his side. 

"Good. That's all we're asking." And they continued to chill as the night took over.

✩✩✩✩ - Channie - ✩✩✩✩

"He is still not home?" Asked Felix with worry and Minho shook his head. It was already past midnight, 3 a.m to be precise, but Chan still hadn't returned to the dorm. The members wanted to talk to him when he came back since their leader was clearly stressed. But it had been hours since Chan had run away and there was still no sign of him.
They had even tried to call him, but Chan had left his phone at the dorm and at this hour there was no one specific they could reach at the company to check for them. Minho and Changbin had told the others to go to bed already, but non of the boys were able to sleep when they knew their leader was still out there.

"We should head to the company." Minho sighed. "Checking on him."

"We'll come with you." Jeongin said and Minho wanted to protest, but Seungmin shook his head.

"Spare it, hyung. We all should talk to him."

"Fine... let's go." And so all seven idols headed over to Chan's studio in the company's building, but to their surprise and worry, Chan wasn't there. They had asked security and apparently Chan hasn't been here since he and Jeongin had left after dance practice.

"Damn it..." Cursed Minho.

"Where could he be?" Asked Han with worry.

"It's cold outside..." Felix mumbled and they all became more and more concerned for their leader.

"We will look around the area. There are not many places that are still open." Hyunjin said and the others nodded.

"Yeah, let's split up." Changbin said and so they headed out, to look for Chan.

They ran around the area for almost an hour, when Minho and Jeongin, who were teamed up, ran through the park and towards the han river, where they spotted a familiar blond figure sitting on a bench, looking up at the dark night sky.

"Chan!"

"Huh? Mi- Minho? Hyung?" Chan asked in surprise and with wide eyes and Jeongin crashed against him immediately, hugging him tight.

"Oh Chan! We were so worried!" Jeongin cried and leaned his head against Chan's chest as he sobbed quietly-

"I- s- sorry... " Chan mumbled and Minho looked down at him with worry, seeing that Chan was only wearing a thin shirt and so he took off his jacket and draped it over Chan's shivering cold frame. Minho knelt down in front of him, placing a hand on Chan's knee.

"Chan hyung, talk to us. Please." Minho told him softly, but Chan looked down, shaking his head.

"You wouldn't belive me..." He whispered and Jeongin looked up at him with a hurtful expression.

"Don't you trust us? Hyung?"

"I-" Chan hesited, biting his lower lip. "I feel like I barely know you. You suddenly demand so much from me."

"Since when do you feel like this?" Minho asked carefully.

"This morning I guess." Chan shrugged his shoulders. "I-..."

"What?" Minho pressed. "Please, Chan. We only want to help." He said and Chan let out a heavy sigh, before he continued.

"I had been working until later and then I headed back to the dorm, but... ugh this is redicilous...." He mumbled, but Minho squeezed his knee and Jeongin his hand, encouraging him to continue. "I turned back to the company because I forgot my phone in my studio. But when I headed back, I-... I thought I ran into someone."

"Someone?" Minho asked with a frown.

"Someone like me." Chan said quietly. "It was like looking into a mirror... I- I-"

"Hey, it's okay." Jeongin told him soothingly and Minho grabbed his phone while Jeongin tried to calm Chan down who had started to shake again.

"Let's get the others first." Minho called the others and told them to meet them by the river and soon the other five also made it there, all of them out of breath and they swarmed Chan as soon as they saw him.

"Hyung, are you okay?" Asked Hyunjin with worry as he sat down next to him on the bench.

"Here, take my jacket as well." Changbin mumbled and took his jacket off. "You're shaking like a leaf." And indeed Chan was trembling, though it probably wasn't just because of the cold.

"We're all here, hyung." Said Seungmin softly as they all stood and sat around Chan. 

"Yeah, please, hyung. Talk to us." Felix added softly as Chan let his head hang down, glaring at his hands. One was still held by Jeongin,while the other was held by Han.

"I'm not your hyung." Chan whispered and the boys all looked at him confused, but Minho nodded, realizing how serious this was for Chan. 

"Okay... then who are you?" He asked quietly and Chan continued.

"I'm the maknae of Stray Kids. Jeongin is the leader and oldest. Seungmin the second, then Felix, Han, Hyunjin, Changbin, Minho... and then me." He started to explain, the others listening closely. "Everything was great. We worked hard, but we manged to get time for ourselves. We never took this kpop industry too seriously. We did our own thing. We make music when we want to make music and we perform when we want to perform." Chan told them and a small smile apperaed on his face. "You all take such great care of me. Protecting me... but... last night, I was wokring on msuic, like I often do, unless Innie hyung tells me to rest." Chan giggled softly, while the others listened to him, taking in every word he said.
"But like I told you two," He said and glanced over to Minho and Jeongin briefly, "I forgot my phone, so I headed back to the company. But on the way there, I-... I ran into- or more like... like through someone."

"Someone?" Asked Hyunjin quietly, while Changbin and Seungmin shared a concerned glance. 

"Myself." Chan said and the others frowned at him.

"Wh- what?" Felix asked in disbelieve.

"I know this sounds crazy, but I ran into myself. He looked almost exactly like me!" Chan told them, this time a bit louder and with more desperation in his voice. "But then- then he disappeared again. Llike he was never there. I thought I was just tired and so I headed back to the company and grabbed my phone, but... but I know it was real." He said, but the others all looked at him with wide eyes that were filled with worry. "You-... you don't believe me..." Chan mumbled and lowered his head again, but Minho petted his head softly. 

"It sounds... weird. But we believe you."

"Y- you do?" Chan asked in shock and the others all smiled and nodded at him.

"Yeah, of course!" Han grinned.

"You would never lie to us, hyun- or uh Channie." Felix smiled and Chan smiled back at them.

"Thank you, guys. Truly."

"Wait..." Mumbled Changbin. "If you are actually like... from another universe, does that mean our hyung switched with you?"

"He was probably the other Me that I saw on the street." Chan nodded.

"Okay... how do we switch you back?" Asked Jeongin.

"Uhm... how late is it?" Chan asked instead and the others blinked down at him confused.

"Why do you wanna know the time?" Asked Seungmin, but he showed him his phone anyways. It was 4:30 a.m.

"I think it happened at 4:44." Chan mumbled. "The time was stuck for a moment then when I met the Chan from this world." He explained.

"4:44?" Asked Minho in shock. "That's soon!"

"Where did you meet our Chan?" Asked Hyunjin.

"Uhm... Olympic-ro."

"That's like 15 minutes from here!" Han exclaimed.

"We should hurry!" Minho said and took Chan's hand, pulling him up to his feet.

"But-... we don't even know if they know-"

"Heheh you don't know our Chan hyung. He will have figured it out by now." Minho grinned and the others agreed.

"Yeah, he will be there."

"We don't even know if that will switch them back..." Changbin reminded them.

"It's worth a try." Jeongin said.

"Yeah, let's go!" Minho said and the eight of them ran through the empty streets in the dark, hoping that everything will be alright...

✩✩✩✩ - Chan- ✩✩✩✩

 
He and the others stood in the Olympic-ro street, at the exact spot where Chan had previously ran into his other self. The other seven stood slightly behind him and Jeongin looked at his phone, letting out a sigh. 

"It's 4:44..." He mumbled and Chan scanned the area, but there was nothing.

"Damn it..."

"So, what now?" Asked Han. "Is there a spell we have to say?"

"I- I don't know... Chan whispered.

"Maybe-"

"There!" Yelled Felix and the boys looked ahead, where suddenly the air started to create a transparent film, like a veil floating in the air and then all of them looked at eight figures. 

"Is that... us?" Asked Minho in shock. They all looked at the other versions in disbelieve, who looked equally surprsied, though they weren't fully visible on the other side of the veil. 

Chan took a step forward and so did his counterpart and the two of them headed towards the veil and they stretched out their hands and then... they walked right through each other and as Chan turned back around, the others were gone.

"Hyung?" Asked Jeongin and Chan looked at his boys. His. His seven kids.

"Guys?" Chan asked and he started to grin as the seven boys crushed him into one big hug.

"Oh Hyung!"

"We missed you!"

"Don't ever do that again!" The boys all cried as Chan laughed and hugged them tight.

"I'm so sorry!" He said and Minho glared at him.

"Yah, you better never work until 4:44 ever again!"

"Hahahah I'll wait until 5."

"HYUNG!"

"Ah! That was a joke!" They laughed and grinned until they calmed down a bit and and Chan once more looked over his shoulder. 

"It's 4:47." Seungmin told him and Chan nodded. 

"I guess it really worked. How was my other Me?" He asked them and suddenly the boys looked a bit... ashamed.

"We uh... we were a bit harsh to him." Changbin admitted and Chan frowned.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"We thought you were messing with us and-... we pushed too hard. Expected too much. We're sorry." All the boys heads hang low, but Chan offered them a fond smile.

"I'm sure the other Chan forgave you. You helped him to get back and-... and I also should apologize to you."

"You? Why?" Asked Hyunjin confused.

"I'm the leader, so I should make sure we all get enough breaks. I know we all want to do as much as we can. Not just break records, but do musically as much as possible. But taking breaks is part of it. To enjoy the small things in life. The things we normally don't pay attention to."

"Hyung..." The other seven all looked at Chan with awe and Minho clapped him on his shoulder.

"We're glad to have you back. We'll follow your lead." He smiled and Chan smiled back, throwing an arm around Minho's shoulder.

"I'll talk to the company tomorrow morning, to give us a bit more time with the song."

"You sure it'll work?" Asked Changbin with worry and Chan nodded.

"Yes. We are not machines, but human beings. I'll make them understand, though it'll only be a day later. It won't change anything for the release of the album. So don't worry. And as for after the album, I'll make sure we get a weekend off. We could visit Jeju island for a bit." He smiled and the others immediately lit up.

"Ah, I missed you, hyung!" Han grinned and they started to laugh again, though Seungmin frowned at the empty street ahead.

"I hope Channie is fine too."

"Yeah. You would have been a cute maknae, Chan." Hyunjin told him and Chan let out a chuckle.

"Hehehe, you guys can spoil me any time!" He grinned and the boys hugged him once.

"Oh we will!" And then they headed back home.

✩✩✩✩ - Channie- ✩✩✩✩

"Channie?" Asked Jeongin with wide eyes, as they looked at the boy in front of them.

"Hy- hyungs?" Chan asked carefully, his voice quiet and unsure.

"Channie!" And then his hyungs ran towards him and hugged him tight, forming one giant cuddle pile as they all wanted to hold their maknae close.

"Oh Channie!"

"We missed you!"

"Don't ever do that again!" They all cried as Chan started to giggle and a few tears fell down his cheeks.

"Hyungs... I'm home..." He grinned and Jeongin pulled him close, running his hand through the maknae's blond hair.

"Oh Channie... you had me worried." He mumbled and Chan burried his face in his hyung's chest.

"Sorry... and I’m sorry for being a bad maknae-"

"Oh Channie, no. You could never be a bad maknae." Jeongin told him softly and the others agreed immediately.

"Yeah! We love you how you are, Channie!" Hyunjin told him.

"It wasn't your fault that you jumped to another universe." Reminded Han him.

"Just be more careful. We were worried. But you are a great maknae, Channie." Seungmin told him and the maknae let out a quiet sob.

"R- really?"

"Yah would we lie to you?!" Asked Changbin and Chan let out a quiet laugh.

"Heheheh true. I love you, hyungs!"

"We love you too, Channie." Jeongin grinned down at him and then he turned around, offering his back to Chan. "Now, hop on." He said and Chan jumped onto his leader's back for a piggy back ride and the eight of them headed home, happy that everything would be alright.